Frame for flexible sheet material



March 22, 1927. 1,621,727

E. R. JOHNSQN FRAME FOR FLEXIBLE SHEET MATERIAL Filed Aug. 27, 1926 l Patented Mar. 2.2, 1927.

untrue stares EARL a. Johnson; or enrcae rrmnorsz FOR FLEXIBLE? SHEET MATERIAL.

Application filed. Au ust 27,1926. serial No..131,830. y

The present improvements relate. to finance for holding thin and. flexible sheet material containing photographs or other pictures, calendars, baseball schedules and other data. In some applications the device may constitute a tag; to be attached in any suitable way to baggage, parcels or other articles.

()ne ohject of the invention is to provide a simple: form of: frame according, to which sheet material of appropriate size and shape may be applied to the frame in aneasy manner and. he held securely therein. Another object is to provide a frame of the. character described according to whichthe area. of.

the material exposed may be approximately that of'the. general area. of the frame. It is an object to provide a. frame which. may readily be attached to some other object, for example a mirr0r,;whereby such object will have increased utility- Other objects and advantages. will appear hereinafter.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a face: view of a preferred. form. of my improved frame secured as an. attachment upon the rear surface of a small hand mirror; Fig. 2-is. a medial sectional View on an enlarged scale of the device of Fig. 1, as on the line 22 thereof; Fig. 3 is aperspective of the devicev of Figs. 1 and 2; Fig. 1 shows the improved frame in face View in a form in which the marginal ring of a small hand mirror is formed to constitute also my improved: frame; Fig. 5- is a enlarged medial section of the device of Fig.4 on the: line 5- 5 thereofyand- Fig. 6 is an enlargement of the left end of Fig. 2. In Figs. 2 and 5 the nirror is shown in edge View.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and- 3, my improved frame 10 designed as an attachment for small pocket mirrors is preferably made of light-weight sheet metal and in a shape conforming to that of the mirror to which it is attached. Fig. 2 shows details of an ordinary pocket-mirror construction in which there is a silvered glass plate 11, a piece of backing material such as cardboard 12, and a rear cover plate 13. The plate 13 is marginally turned over at 18 to form an annular crimping bead, and there is usually a narrow somewhat conical ring 14 interposed between the turned-over edge 13 and the glass 11.

The frame 10 is a ring doubled U-shaped in cross-section, and is shown as. being]; Open interiorly through both legs of the ushaped ccmstriuztion, although the ring-like seating part l5may be continuous from side) to side and. cover the plate 13. This LII-shaped. and ring; formation comprises the. part, 15,. which is continuous and rests, upon theback" plate 13 of the mirror, and the part 116 overlying-I the part 15, these parts 15' and 1.6j being; spaced-apart to" receive. the flexible. sheet.v ma terial which it desiredt'o hold inthefname. From. Fig. 1 it will, bev noted that. two gaps 17 are cut in. the outer part 16., and these. gaps are opposite each other andlare prefela ably located. midway between the'upper and lower ends of" the mirror- These. notches. or: gaps may be closer to, one end-than, t0 the; other. From material? originally occupying the. gaps at' I7 smallattachment tales. or cleats; 18 are formed,.shown by dotted, lines in. Fig. 1 as extendingl'aterally,and in Figs. and 3 as being bent around the marginah bead 148 Smalltabs 19. may alsobe par tially cut from. the framepart 16. and Similarly bent over the. bead 1 3., and the frame 10 is therefore held in the instance: shown. by four metallic clipsv integral withv the frame and bent over in holding relationi to, parts of the ordinary mirror construction. In Figs. 1 and 2" the area. 2.0 may be con: sidered toe be a card having data printed thereon and normally held: within. thef'ramea Turning to Figs. 4 and. 5 the construction shown comprises the circular mirror22, a; piece of backing-material such as-cardboard' 23, asmall somewhat conicali ringa24 encome passingthe mirror, and my improved frame 25 which in this instance utilizes some of. the: ordinary mirror construction, namely part of the baclr construction including. the turned-over margin or head 26. The head 26. merges into a shoulder or seat" part 2.7 resting upon the hacking 28,. and. the mirror and the backing are. thus strongly clamped together and a linishe'd'edge: produced. To provide my improved frame in this connection the sheet-holding part 28 is offset slight ly from the plane of the part 27 so as to space this part 28 from the backing 23 sufficiently to receive the desired card or sheet, and the part 28 extends inward preferably to a small extent only, the interior of the frame being open. Gaps 29 are cut in the otherwise continuous flange-like overlying and r ortions bein somewhat lar erthan 7 to a the main sight opening in the frame, the sheet is first inserted through the notches l7 or 29 so as to occupy its normal position in the frame to the full extent possible when moved through the notches in one direction. In such case approximately one-half of the 1 sheet will then remain overlying the flanges 16 or 28, and to insert this half of the sheet it is bent back upon itself as shown by the dotted lines 30 in Fig. 5 until the more forward edges of the sheet as 30 also enter the opposed notches, and this free end is then simply moved forward until the loop-shaped portion of the sheet is flattened out, whereupon the sheet is entirely beneath the overlying flanges 16 or 28 and the sheet is then held normally in the frame. To remove the sheet a slender object like a hat pin is inserted under the sheet from side to side at the notches and forced away from the plane of the frame, thus drawing the sheet out as a loop.

In the past it has been customary to pro vide such small pocket mirrors with photographs or various information data permanently applied on the back thereof, directly upon the backing plate as 13 of Fig. 2, and experience has demonstrated that such a small pocket mirror is peculiarly appropriate as a carrier for such photographs or data. When the data, such as baseball schedules, or a calendar, becomes obsolete, or the photograph appearing thereon is no longer of sufficient interest, the mirror as a whole is usually discarded. According to the present improvements the usefulness of the mirror as a pocket piece maybe extended indefinitely, since the frame feature of it provides means for changing the subject matter carried as may be desirable from time to time.

An important feature of the invention is in the fact that the card or sheet is held with unusual security and may be removed only by deliberately tearing or by withdrawal in the manner indicated, and the danger of accidental loss from the frame is entirely overcome.

Such a frame may conveniently be used as a tag for identifying parcels, hand baggage, etc, and may be secured by clips such as 18 and 19 directly upon the article to be marked, or in any other approved way. It may be used also in suitable sizes for holding photographs or other data in other connections.

I contemplate as being included in the present invention such changes and departures from what is thus specifically illustratedand described as fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A frame of the character described of rounded contour in face view, being in ring like form, and having means for holding a flexible card or sheet normally within the the frame, said means com rising inner retaining means for the carc or sheet and a part forming narrow outer flange-like retaining means for the card or sheet, said outer retaining means having a pair of opposed gaps therein through which the card or sheet may be inserted in the manner described, said gaps being in substantially the longest lines parallel to each other terminating in opposite sides of the frame.

2. A frame of the character described formed of thin sheet material, being in ringlike form, and having means for holding a flexible card or sheet normally within the frame, said means comprising inner retain ing means for the card or sheet and a part forming narrow outer flange-like retaining means having a pair of opposed gaps therein substantially midway between opposite ends of the frame and through which the flexible card or sheet may be inserted in the manner described, and means integral with the frame for holding the frame as an attachment upon another object.

- 3. A combined mirror and shei-rt-holder of the character described comprising a mirror, a frame encompassing the marginal edges of the mirror, and means for retaining a sheet of thin and flexible material carried by said mirror frame and comprising narrow flangelike parts normally overlying edge portions of the sheet, said flange like parts having opposed gaps therein to provide entrance for such sheet beneath the flange-like parts.

EARL R. JOHNSON. 

